State Subsidies In The Global Economy

Using figures from European Union members, the volume highlights the conditional effects of globalization, asset specificity, and domestic institutions. Far from being impotent, democratic states face politically powerful pressures to continue to shield social actors from the vagaries of the global market.

How did China move so swiftly in capital-intensive industries without labor-cost or scale advantage from bit player to the largest manufacturer and exporter in the world? This book argues that subsidies contributed significantly to China's success. Industrial subsidies in key Chinese manufacturing industries may exceed thirty percent of industrial output. Economic theories have mostly portrayed subsidies as distortive, inefficiently reallocating resources according to non-market criteria. However, China's state-capitalist regime uses subsidies to promote the governments' and the Communist Party of China's interests. Rather than aberrations, subsidies help Chinese businesses and governments produce, stabilize and create common understandings of markets; the flows of capital reflect struggles between critical Chinese actors including central and provincial governments. Concepts of state capitalism including market-transition theory, the multi-organizational Chinese state, and state as paramount shareholder, create complex and relevant understandings of Chinese subsidies. The authors develop independent measures of industrial subsidies using publicly-reported data at firm and industry levels from governmental and private sources. Subsidies include free to low-cost loans, subsidies to energy (coal, electricity, natural gas, heavy oil) and to key inputs, land and technology. Four sequential studies identify the growth of subsidies to Chinese manufacturing over time and effects on world industry: steel (2000-2007), glass (2004-2008), paper (2002-2009) and auto parts (2001-2011). Subsidies to Chinese industry affect and are affected by business strategy and trade policy. Business strategies include lobbying for subsidies and for protection from subsidized foreign competitors and managing supply chains to guard against whiplash effects of uncoordinated subsidies. The subsidized solar industry highlights how global business strategies and decisions on production location and technology development respond to production or consumption subsidies and include market (competitive) and non-market (political) strategies. The book also covers government policies and regulation on subsidies broadly focusing on domestic consumption (antidumping and countervailing duties) and domestic production (indigenous innovation).

Recent international subsidy regulation is contributing to a dual transformation of the state. The state is increasingly liberal as expenditure is channelled into particular activities and it is less sovereign as key decision-making authority is transferred to international institutions. Subsidy conflicts emerge as the attempts by states, firms and social forces to adapt to an increasingly global economy collide with variations of liberal development models. This study examines the distinct subsidy arrangements in North America, the GATT and the European Union to highlight this change in state structure and behaviour.

"This is one of 10 studies for the Copenhagen Consensus Project that sought to evaluate the most feasible opportunities to improve welfare globally and alleviate poverty in developing countries. Anderson argues that phasing out distortionary government subsidies and barriers to international trade will yield an extraordinarily high benefit-cost ratio. A survey is provided of recent estimates using global economywide simulation models of the benefits of doing that by way of the current Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations. Even if adjustment costs are several times as large as suggested by available estimates, the benefit-cost ratio from seizing this opportunity exceeds 20. That is much higher than the rewards from regional or bilateral trade agreements or from providing preferential access for least-developed countries' exports to high-income countries. Such reform would simultaneously contribute to alleviating several of the other key challenges reflected in the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals"--Abstract.

This book analyses subsidies from various perspectives and creates a model that determines whether or not their use is justified. Further, it analyses the various causes of trade distortion, trade-discriminatory practices, and other issues associated with unregulated subsidies. In addition, the book considers how these issues fall within the scope of subsidies described under the SCM Agreement. The primary discussion from the perspective of WTO objective concerns the trade practice of awarding subsidies, for exports and also for protectionist purposes. Here, the terms justifiable and non-justifiable are used as hypothetical parameters to determine the extent of state support, considering the country classification based on economic and technological criteria, and their objectives for development. These parameters are distinct from Prohibited, Actionable, and Non-Actionable subsidies, as classified under the SCM Agreement. Subsidies awarded for the purposes of development and for welfare are considered as justifiable, whereas subsidies for the promotion of exports or state measures adopted for protectionist purposes are non-justifiable. Lastly, the book addresses the implications of such subsidies on the core objectives of the WTO and in connection with fair trade values.

This paper addresses the problems of defining and measuring government subsidies, examines why and how government subsidies are used as a fiscal policy tool, assesses their economic effects, appraises international empirical evidence on government subsidies, and offers options for their reform. Recent international trends in government subsidy expenditure are analyzed for the 16-year period from 1975 to 1990, using general government subsidy data for 60 countries from the System of National Accounts (SNA) and central government expenditure on subsidies and other current transfers for 68 countries from Government Finance Statistics (GFS). The paper reviews major policy options for subsidy reform, focusing on ways to improve the cost-effectiveness of subsidy programs.

The paper studies the economic determinants of government subsidies using panel data for 40 countries over 18 years (from 1975 to 1992) and finds that individual country-specific factors play a sizeable role in determining government subsidies. But it also suggests several characteristics—a small government, a small external current account deficit, and a productive structure geared more toward services and agriculture than manufacturing—may make it easier to keep subsidy expenditures down. The paper also suggests that globalization and the associated increase in openness are not impediments to reducing subsidies. In itself, an IMF-supported adjustment program is found not to be a significant determinant of government subsidy expenditures.